Improvement in folding settees



v 1. msuss. Folding Settees Patented Sept, 15, 1874.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH Gr. BLISS, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

IMPR OVEMENT IN FOLDING SETTEES Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 154,943, dated September 15, 1874; application filed April 11, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH G. BLISS, of Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin, in the State of Minnesota, have made certain Improvements in Folding Settees, of which the following is a specification:

Theobject of, this invention is to produce a settee that is capable of being folded into compact shape for transportation, and in which the back can be reversed, so as to have either side of the settee the front without turning it around; and it consists in the peculiar construction of the devices by which this result is produced, as will be fully hereinafter described.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a perspective of the settee as standing; Fig. 2, a longitudinal view of the settee with the arms and back folded, but standing upon its legs, while dotted lines show how the legs are folded; Figs. 3 and 4 and 5, details of parts and conditions.

A represents the seat of the settee, of the usual form and construction, with the edges of opposite sides alike in form. Bis the reversible back of the settee. O O are the arms near the ends of the settee, and are hinged to the seat A, so that they can turn inward and lie flat upon the top of the seat by means of the staples b b that are passed through holes in the lower ends of the arms G, and thence into the seat. Thetreversible back B is attached to arms 0 by the hinged bifurcated braces M M, the single ends of which are hinged to the outside of the arms at 0, while the ends of the two legs are hinged to the back by the staples a a.

By this construction, the back can be turned over to make either edge of the settee the front without turning it around by lifting the back B to swing the braces M upon the arms G, and by turning the arms 0 inward, and raising the back to be over the seat, the braces M will fold upon the arms and bring the back down into a compact horizontal position on the seat A, where it occupies but little space.

D D are legs, of which there are eight under the settee, forming two sections of four each, and they are made fast at their upper ends to transverse rock-shafts K, which are secured to transverse bearing-pieces K placed underneath and fastened to the seatA by the metal strap-boxes K, which receive half the diameter of the rock-shafts, while the pieces K are hollowed out on their lower sides to receive and allow the shafts K to freely turn therein. The legs D are held the right distance apart in each section longitudinally by the stretcher-s d, and transversely by the pivotal rods 0 e, which pass through the legs D and the stretchers d, so that the legs can be folded, as seen in broken lines in Fig. 2. F F are bifurcated folding braces, the two legs of their outer ends having eyes, through which the pivotal rods e pass and rigidly brace them laterally, while their inner ends are secured to a key, H, that will freely slide in groove g of the longitudinal guide-piece G that is centrally secured to the under side of the seat A and between the transverse pieces K. H is the adjusting bolt or key that connects the section-brace F with the grooved guide-piece G, and is formed with a round shaft, a'keydrop at one end, and a rectangular central portion of less diameter than the round shaft, and, being fixed to the brace F, the key-end is inserted into the slot or groove in the guide,

the round part entering the enlarged circular part at the end, and by sliding it forward to the flattened rectangular part, it will then slide in the groove of guide-piece G.

When the legs D are in a position to support the settee, the shaft or round part of the key is in the enlarged eye or opening at the end of the groove g, and the legs are locked firmly in position but when the key is forced into the slot or groove, so that the flat rectangular part is coincident with the groove, then the legs can be folded' in a compact manner under the seat A, as seen in broken lines in Fig. 2, for one section of four legs, by sliding the key in the groove until the legs are so folded.

What I claim is-- 1. The combination of the back B, braces M hinged at a to the back, and at c to the arms,

and the arms C hinged at I) with theseat A, as described.

2. The combination of the legs D, stretchers d, pivotal rod 0, bifurcated brace F, key H,

and grooved guide G, constructed and arranged, as set forth, to fold the legs under the seat, substantially as described.

3. In a settee provided with folding legs D,- the combination of the back'B, hinged braces M, and hinged arms 0 with the seat A, as

specified, whereby the back can be reversed or folded upon the seat, substantially as described.

Executed at Minneapolis, Minnesota, this 4th day of November, 1873. l,

JOSEPH Gr. BLISS.

Witnesses:

ALBERT SMITH, N. H. BosBURG. 

